Devil-May-Care
by FreyjaBee
Summary: Love. Infidelity. A compelling dance between criminality, want and manipulation. (Miraxus one-shot) Rated M for sexual content, language, substance abuse. The usual culprits.


_Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima_

 **Warnings:**

 _Sexual content, coarse language, substance abuse. Mature readers only, please._

* * *

 ** _Devil-May-Care_**

* * *

 _'I'll tell you everything I know._

 _'If you kiss me.'_

Mirajane Strauss adjusted her heavy, bullet proof vest over her shoulders, unbelievably uncomfortable. The midnight air was hot and humid; her skin was sweaty. The wedding band around her ring finger felt too goddamn small, though it was only because all of her appendages were swollen with the heat and not for the adultery she was _thinking_ about committing.

' _If you kiss me._ '

In truth, there wasn't much thinking about it. She'd already decided.

For days she'd thought about his words. For days. And days. Lying next to her husband at night, the crickets chirruping loudly outside the window while midnight crept up on her, she imagined a mouth that wasn't his and her body burned alive. When that happened she leaned over and kissed the man she swore to love, hoping to quell the fire. She rolled over and

 _pretended he was someone else._

 _'If you kiss me.'_

She wanted to dig her nails into her arms. She wanted to cry. She wanted to pretend that _this_ wasn't all she thought about. She wanted to pretend that she was here, slipping behind a bar named Raven's Den without her partner because she wanted to know what _he_ knew. She wanted to do her job. She didn't want revenge on her husband for similar crimes.

The concrete was cracked under her feet, deep fissures belying its new age. Salt and bitterly cold winters had done a number on its puckered surface. It took her no time at all to find the man she was looking for. He leaned against the ancient brick building that was almost as old as Magnolia itself, a cigarette in one hand, beer in the other. A playful smile landed on his mouth when he saw her. "Constable Strauss."

"Mr. Dreyar," she greeted.

With one hand slung casually in the back pocket of his low-riding jeans, he took a drag off his cigarette. "This is a nice surprise."

 _'If you kiss me.'_

"Here to tell me you don't need my help anymore? You know who to arrest?" Smoke curled out of his mouth with every word.

Mirajane licked dry lips. "You're still my only lead."

"Oh?"

She nodded. Her gun felt heavy on her hip, its weight reassuring as she stepped closer still. "I think—maybe—we can work something out."

His grin turned feral. He came in far too close for her liking, stepping well into her personal space. "Does that mean you'll come upstairs?"

Mirajane drummed up the hardest face she could muster. "For a few moments, to talk." As if _that_ qualifier would make her deepest, darkest thoughts opaque.

Laxus threw her a devil-may-care smile that made her heart squeeze and let her know that she wasn't fooling him. Hell, she wasn't fooling herself. She hated him.

He dropped his cigarette to the ground and stamped it out, then took a long swallow of his beer. "Come on." Turning, he yanked open the plain black door and stepped into a different world, a dark one full of loud noise, dirty floors, the sweet and chemical smell of alcohol and laughter.

Mira found herself in a part of the bar that customers didn't typically go, closed off from the main area by a swinging door with a filthy square of a window. To her left was a door marked STAFF ONLY, and to the right was STORAGE. Voices and music drifted out from the main room, the latter vibrating the floor, the walls, heavy bass making her ears pound.

Tucked in behind the STORAGE room was a staircase that most would have missed. Mira only saw it because Laxus grabbed her hand and led her to its base. The stairs weren't lit very well at all. She had to squint to see them and even still the toe of her work boots snagged on the final riser. She would have gone down, but Laxus, curse him, grabbed her and pulled her up. She tugged out of his grasp, desperate to remain independent, and ignored the way her breath came faster.

 _You're Mirajane Strauss. You're a constable with the Magnolia police department. One day you're going to make Inspector. You're not a girl that gets lightheaded and dense when a man like Laxus Dreyar touches you._

Except that's what was happening.

The realization made her infinitely frustrated. Three times she wondered what the _hell_ she was doing there. Three times she placated herself by thinking that she was going to get the information she needed to get her promotion. Three times she told herself that lie. Three times it _almost_ sat right.

Laxus stopped in front of a door with the number nine stenciled on the front. From his pocket he produced a small, brass key and opened the apartment. The room beyond was obviously lived in. This wasn't just where he took the men and women that were willing to pay. This was his _home_. It was likely he didn't _have_ anywhere else to bring them. Mira looked around, taking everything in from band posters on the ceiling to the few dirty dishes in the sink, to the three pairs of well-worn shoes lined up beside the closet.

He pulled her in and closed the door. Mira pretended she didn't hear him lock it. Her heart was in her throat. _This is a bad idea. This is a bad idea. This is a bad idea._

Laxus hadn't had any _direct_ contact with criminal activity other than some petty dealing, as far as she knew, but it was in her experience that the police only ever saw _half_ of what was happening. The rest went on behind closed doors. Really, he could be a killer for all she knew.

"Should I hide all my artillery?" Laxus asked.

"I know you use drugs, Mr. Dreyar, you could hide the evidence but you wouldn't be fooling anyone," Mira responded. "Leave it where it is."

He didn't look perturbed. "I should be paying you, if you're going to call me Mister."

Hearing his deep, sultry voice, Mira's body sweated. "I—I just wanted to talk."

"Yeah?" He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall in the narrow hallway. They had yet to turn on any lights, but Mira didn't need any, Laxus was illuminated by the light flooding in from the street. He was tall and wide and, though he was silhouetted, she _knew_ his mouth was curled into a playful smirk.

"If that's the case, then _why_ did we come up here, Mirajane? You and me, we can talk in the streets, can't we?" Uncrossing his arms, he stepped towards her.

Mira stiffened as he reached for her vest and played with the Velcro holding it together at the sides. "I didn't—come to pay you."

"Liar."

"I'm—I'm married."

He grabbed her left hand and pinched her wedding ring between his thumb and forefinger. "Above the Raven's Den, you're anything you want to be." His eyes were a little too sincere. Word travelled fast throughout Magnolia. Nothing was secret anymore. Everyone knew her marriage was failing, that her husband was sleeping around, and with men instead. Even the dregs that hung around the Den knew her business.

"You don't have to be ashamed. I won't say a word, Mirajane."

"Because the word of a whore is something to go off of." She was sharp, and her words revealed far more than she'd intended.

Laxus didn't flinch. "My business is build off confidentiality, isn't it?" he challenged. "If I talk, my clients walk. I don't get paid and suddenly I can't afford this shitty ass apartment, right?"

Mira considered reminding him she was _only_ here because he told her he had a name she might be interested in. While she wavered, Laxus decided to give her something to think about. Reaching, he cupped her cheek and tipped her face to the sky, then leaned in slowly, giving her time to back away. Mira's thoughts screamed at her to stop him right up until the moment his mouth met hers, then her head went dead and she let him kiss her. His lips were smooth, his breath tasted like alcohol. When he broke away there was a grin on his face.

"You shouldn't have—"

"Why not?"

' _If you kiss me.'_ "Can I have the name now?" Mira asked. Her voice shook.

"No."

She scowled, annoyed. "You told me—"

"I never bring women up here _just_ for that. You know that."

She did. Mira's fingers flexed, her heart throbbed.

"Can you pay?"

"Laxus—"

"Can you pay?"

"I have money, but—"

He kissed her again, thoroughly silencing her, his tongue finding her tongue, and then his teeth. Her lip was sucked on next, then bitten. Head rushing, Mira grabbed his shirt without ever realizing it, holding him close. This time when he leaned back he said, "Looks like it's been a long time since someone's kissed you like that."

 _No one's_ ever _kissed me like that._ She couldn't find the words to speak. She shook from her head to her toes and was ashamed for it.

Laxus took a sip of his beer then handed it over. "Have some."

Mira did, drinking it until it was empty. It wasn't enough to subdue her nerves while Laxus' fingers dropped back to her hand and started working her ring off. _Am I really doing this?_ Evidently. "I—I want something stronger."

He looked up at her through his lashes, pale brows raised. "I thought you were working?"

Mira swallowed and shook her head. "My shift is done." Immediately she regretted her words. Not because they belied her _true_ intention here, but because she told herself that it wasn't easy being a cop on this side of town with men like Laxus Dreyar wandering around. Men that were strippers up front but whores and petty drug dealers on the side. Men that had spent enough time in the jails to be annoyed enough to quiet her forever, if she let them.

And the thought _did_ cross his mind. Quiet the one cop that wouldn't give up on this side of town. That way he wouldn't have to follow through with the bad deal he'd made just because he had it kinda bad for this lady cop with a cruel smile that was gentled by a kindness in her eye. He pushed violence aside and pulled her wedding ring off her finger. She looked better without it, in his opinion. A woman like Mirajane Strauss shouldn't be tied down by a man that loved her not. The ring went into his pocket, then he took the empty beer bottle from her hand. "What kind of stronger?"

Mira breathed out unevenly, so nervous she could die. "Anything."

He turned, dropped the bottle on a narrow table beside the cramped kitchen and grabbed a small container of pills, rattling them in front of her face. "This kind of strong?"

She almost said yes, it was on her tongue. Laxus dropped them back down before she replied and went for a bottle of vodka instead, thinking it was more her speed. "Here."

The devil she knew. Mira took it in shaking hands and cracked the lid. It smelled like rubbing alcohol. It burned all the way down her throat and curdled in her stomach. She wondered if she was going to bring it all back up. Then she took another swig. Everything stayed down, she drank again. Her senses dulled.

"Better?" Laxus licked her lips.

Mira breathed out and let herself wrap her arm around his neck, the vodka bottle resting against his shoulder. "Yes."

He smiled a cat's smile, and turned so he was pinning her back against the wall. His hands landed on her hips, inches away from her gun. "It took you so long to decide, I thought you weren't going to come."

Neither did she, but finding her husband's used condoms squished between the wall and the mattress of their bed that morning was the last straw. Her only response to Laxus was to kiss him hard. This wasn't relief, having sex with a man she'd have to pay. It felt vindictive and petty, hidden under a loose excuse to get here, the need for a name that she could probably find elsewhere if she hunted hard enough, but she didn't care. Later tonight she'd go home and fight with her husband and get the inevitable divorce rolling, but for now she was doing what she wanted. Laxus Dreyar.

His mouth landed on hers. Typically, Laxus didn't kiss the women that came into his room, not that Mirajane knew that, it felt too personal. A kiss was something shared between lovers, but he just couldn't help himself. It had been months he'd thought about doing this and hell, he wasn't going to say no when she offered, even if he knew she was distraught.

Travelling up, he grabbed the Velcro at her sides and pulled. The sound was loud and startling. Mira stiffened. He expected her to give up before they'd even started, startled out of her daring adventure. She didn't. In fact, she unlocked her arm from around his throat and leaned back so he could get her vest the rest of the way undone. It came up over her head and fell to the floor in a heavy _thump._ Beneath it she was damp with sweat; it was hot in this room, too, almost too hot to breathe. Mira didn't mind as much as she thought she might.

Laxus' lips found her neck, his hands the buttons of her once-crisp dress shirt. While he worked, Mira tipped her head back and emptied more vodka into her mouth. _I'm a mess._ He nipped her collarbone. It was skin on skin. She didn't even realize he'd gotten her shirt mostly undone. He worked fast, fingers skillful. _Because he's done this before._ Many, many times. It didn't deter her in that moment. She wanted someone who could make her forget her indignation and failed love. She wanted _him._

His teeth gathered her nipple up through her bra, then he bit hard enough to make her gasp. Mira let her hands hang limp at her sides while Laxus grabbed her other breast and squeezed. Before she knew it, the bra came down, the cups forced beneath her breasts, hiking them higher than usual. When his mouth closed over the sensitive skin, Mira almost dropped the alcohol. She held on, barely.

Laxus pulled away and yanked at the belt holding all of her equipment, her nightstick, her gun and her Taser. It came undone effortlessly. Her pants came next. He struggled with those for a moment simply because his hands shook, which was ridiculous, they'd never shaken before. Maybe when he was new to this. It had been a long time since then, though.

To help, Mira kicked her boots off. Her feet were hot. A second later the pants came away and fell to the ground, leaving Mirajane standing in a pair of plain, white panties, her uniform shirt which was both wrinkled _and_ sweaty _and_ mostly undone, and a plain white bra that was forced to hold up the weight of her breasts in a way that it was never intended.

"You're beautiful."

How many other girls had he said that to this week alone? Too many, likely, but Mira still smiled because she still appreciated it. How long had it been since someone had told her that?

"Come here." He brought her deeper into the apartment to a king sized bed along the wall. There were mirrors above it and mirrors to the side, and in front? A huge window that overlooked Magnolia. Light poured in from outside, yellow and dull. Beautiful. It felt like she was in a different world in that artificial glow. It lit up all of the things she thought she should probably be miffed about. The cacophony of drug paraphernalia: a glass bong, a silver pipe, loose pills and loose cigarettes; all occupied the nightstand.

"Is it all yours?" She felt like she needed to ask, not because she _cared_ but because she thought it was her _duty_.

He followed her gaze. "Some." There was no sense lying about that. "Most belong to customers, though. They like to use and lie in my bed and tell me all of their secrets."

Of course.

"Do you want to do the same, Mirajane?" He'd let her. He _wanted_ to know, more than ever.

"I want to forget my secrets," she replied, loose-tongued by vodka.

"Us both." He left her standing beside the bed and dragged his T-shirt from his body. When his chest was bare, Mira's eyes adopted a hungry look. Even if he hadn't been looking forward to this, that expression alone was enough to make him harder than a rock. He went for his pants next, pulling them down too fast because he was eager to see her reaction when she saw him.

He wasn't disappointed. Her breathing changed, her fingers twitched, and she licked her soft, pale lips. He came back to her, undoing the rest of her shirt. "How do you want me?"

"I—"

"Do you want top? Bottom? Do you want control, Mirajane, or do you want me to lead?"

She always had all of the control. "I'm tired of leading."

That's what he liked to hear. Bending, he kissed her forcefully while taking her shirt by the shoulders and tearing it off her body. It dropped to the floor. She gasped. He didn't wonder if he'd hurt her. He broke the kiss and knelt, taking her panties next, pulling them down. They were damp. They joined her shirt. Finally, he pulled Mira down by the hips so she was sitting in front of him on the edge of the mattress. Her hands planted on either side of his forearms and she spread wide for him, more willing than he'd expected now that they'd come this far.

He kissed her thighs, making her gasp, and worked all the way up to the junction of her legs. By the time he'd made it there, she was a shaking, shivering mess. Using his tongue, he flicked over her folds and listened to the responding sob.

"Laxus—" His name out of her mouth was the hottest summer day, the coldest winter night, the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard, and the most terrible, because it only made him want to listen to it again and again. He spread her wider and skimmed his tongue over her clit. She tasted sweet and tangy and better than he'd imagined. His tongue swirled. Mira moaned, low, soft. Her fingers scratched down his back. He wanted to take her higher.

Releasing her thigh, he used two fingers to find her hole and fill her up. Her body welcomed him eagerly, pulsing and moist and loose. She murmured and shook, her legs squeezing around his shoulders. Though he wanted to move quickly, he also wanted this to last for as long as it could. His movements were methodic. Taking his other hand, he added that to the mix, giving her some anal play. Her low moans turned into hectic little puffs of air that were _supposed_ to be words but were too incoherent to make any sort of sense. He figured it must have been okay because she didn't push him away.

Mira, unable to hold herself up any longer, leaned back against the rumpled bed. It smelled like Laxus. Not like cologne and hair gel and laundry detergent, though those scents _were_ part of the aroma, but like pheromones and sweat, things she thought she shouldn't like but _did_. She didn't think how many others he'd let into his bed; he wouldn't _let_ her. Her thoughts were consumed by the building pressure low in her belly. He kept bringing her to the brink of orgasm then backing off, winding her up like a toy doll.

Her back bowed without her permission; she quivered. "Please. Please. Please."

He took his tongue away long enough to ask, "Please make you come?"

Mira tried to respond. His tongue landed on her again, his fingers moved faster and her mind emptied.

Looking up the line of her body, Laxus watched Mira's hands weave through her hair. She pressed her palms into her eyes and pushed her breasts high, consequently forcing more pressure on his tongue. He closed his lips around her clit and sucked. She was so close by that point, that was all it took. She came screaming and writhing, pulsing, the orgasm lasting twice as long because he'd teased her so. When she finished, she fell back, a boneless mess. Laxus licked her once more, then carefully extracted himself from her body.

"You're feeling pretty good?" Her cheeks were red, so was her chest. He knew the answer was yes.

"Yes." Mira cracked an eye, a half smile on her mouth when she saw that he was hard. "Don't you ever get bored, doing this all of the time?"

"Not when I have girls like you come through." Not _just_ girls like her, but her _exactly_. His mind hadn't wandered once, he didn't get bored, or tired of hearing her pant. He just wanted her to do it more. Reaching to his dresser he grabbed out a condom and put it on, then came back for Mira.

"Mm…"

He kissed her, derailing whatever it was she was going to say. When she was thoroughly frazzled again, he moved so he was beside her. "Get on your side."

Mira obeyed without question. Taking her leg in his hand, he lifted it up and spread her wide, and played at her opening. She was so warm and smooth. Slowly, he eased inside and listened to her gasp when he buried himself all the way to the base. He left himself there for a moment, unmoving while he got used to the feel of her body squeezing him.

Mira leaned back into Laxus' wide chest and looped her arm around his neck. His cheek found hers. There was a thin stubble there, enough to prick her. She liked it. Closing her eyes, she let her fingers play through his hair.

"Kiss me," Laxus told her. His voice was far more strangled than he'd planned.

Mira, willing to submit, tipped her face up and met his lips. On contact Laxus started to move his hips, slowly at first. Mira's breasts bounced with every movement; she moaned. Laxus squeezed her leg tighter and thrust faster, challenging himself to make her scream again. Her back bowed. She sucked air in loudly through her nose.

Laxus took his mouth off hers so he could properly hear her pant. Every time she did he got a little bit harder, his body contracted a little more. He released her leg and found her breast, pinching and pulling hard. Mira didn't mind the roughness. She curled into him and cried out. He felt her body convulse around his and knew he'd made her orgasm. He could have come there, but _not yet_.

Laxus stopped abruptly and pulled out of her. Mira propped herself up on her elbow, panting, and found his eyes in the near dark. His brow was slicked in sweat, and his chest, too. Feeling daring, she leaned forward and licked some of the sweat away. In the back of her mind she knew she shouldn't be doing this. Guilt was going to catch up with her sooner or later. Guilt for her husband, guilt for her job. She was a police officer, damn it, shouldn't she _not_ be encouraging whores to work?

Then she grabbed his erection and forgot.

Laxus let her pump for a moment, then asked, "I thought _you_ were paying _me_ , not the other way around?"

"If I'm paying, shouldn't I get to choose what I want to do?" she asked, though really, she had no idea how this worked. Was she not supposed to touch him?

Laxus smirked. "And what do you want, Mira?"

Everything. She wanted everything. Getting on her knees, she showed him, bending so she could wrap her mouth around his girth. He filled her up easily with still plenty more to go, but when she moved her tongue he didn't _act_ like he was missing out on the full experience. He leaned back on his knees, combed his fingers through her hair, and moaned like he hadn't in a long, long time. No one ever thought to make the whores feel good. Why would they? They were paying for a service, after all. But Mirajane…

He had to stop her when the sensation became too much, when he was going to come and ruin all of her fun. "Get up, Mira."

She sat up straight.

"Turn, so your back is to me," he commanded, "Then get on my lap and put your palms against the wall." Mira did that, too, eager for what came next. Laxus guided himself inside again. She was even wetter than before. The position was awkward, but he knew she'd like it once they got into a rhythm. He grabbed her hips, holding her up a few inches, then started to thrust. She tipped her head back and watched them in the mirror above the bed, sobbing just as Laxus hoped. And she shook. Looking down their bodies, he watched her backside jiggle just right, listened to the slap of skin on skin, and treasured every moan she gave him.

* * *

Mirajane stared at their reflections in the ceiling mirrors. Laxus, lying on his back, had his arm curled around her shoulders. Both of their bodies were totally naked and uncovered. They looked good together, she had to admit, but as euphoria receded reality started to sink in. It was past two in the morning, there was vodka on her breath, and her body ached from a man much different than her husband.

She could have cried, if she let herself. "How much?" she asked instead of giving into that weakness.

Laxus thought about telling her, _'nothing,'_ but he knew that she'd been able to do this because she thought she had to pay for it. It would feel like that much more of a betrayal if they were doing it just because they wanted to. "Three hundred."

Mira licked her lips and nodded. "O-okay."

"If you don't have it—"

"I do," she said firmly. She'd come prepared.

Silence stretched, then Laxus, against his better judgement, asked, "Will you leave him?"

He thought she wouldn't answer but she returned with, "How could I not?"

"People do weird things when they're in love," he said. Like stay in poisoned relationships, put up with infidelity and unfaithfulness and lies.

"We're not." She said it so vehemently he believed her.

He changed the subject. "I like you, Mira." He said it partially because he thought she needed to hear it and partially because it was true. "Even when you're chasing me through the streets with a gun on my back."

She looked at him from the corner of her eye and confessed, "I never try to catch you very hard."

"I know."

She was in love with a criminal. Perfect. How did this happen? "What's the name, Laxus?"

He kissed her temple. "Come see me again tomorrow."

"The name."

"If I give you the name you'll have no reason to return. Come see me tomorrow."

She hesitated. "I work."

"After."

"People will see me coming here."

He tried not to flinch at her reluctance to be seen with him. Girls like Mirajane didn't hang out in dives like this. She had a reputation. Yet he was a slave to want. "Is it so strange for the cops to hang around this dump?"

No, it wasn't. "And I'll come up here again?"

He brushed her hair back from her cheek. "If you want." He wouldn't beg. Not for that, at least.

"I can't afford three hundred dollars a night."

His smile was lazy as he planned, even though his stomach was all nerves. "Then leave your wallet at home."

She searched his eyes again. She must have liked what she saw there because she said, "Alright."

* * *

 **A/N:** I just watched Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, got drunk, and _super_ excited to write, and this… this is what happened when I sat down.

Why nines and threes littered throughout all of my stories? Crazy. Obsessed.

Um… To Ikathy: _thank you_ for giving me the idea to make Mirajane the cop so many weeks ago. I'm not sure if you'll see this or what, but. Yeah. Cool. I'm also not sure if Mira came out right. Pftt… who knows?

Last time I wrote a Mira x Laxus one-shot, I had someone say, "I wish I could read more Mira x Laxus from you." To which I say, there hasn't been a couple I've written more about. There are Mira x Laxus fics all over my FF. All over. (yeah, still drunk) _Anyway_. Go read some of them, perhaps. You may enjoy.


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